Unfortunately the venue wasn't big enough for everyone! We had to leave so of our bigger boned, feathered friends at home. They're resting at home; blissfully unaware of 4 new intruders who will join their coop soon. The older ladies will be none too pleased about the addition of these new chicks. Introduction of these new little wonders will be a slow and arduous process. We have to wait until the chicks can "hold their own" against the bigger ladies, because they'll literally battle it out and establish a new pecking order immediately. If we introduce the babies too soon, it could be catastrophic. This isn't an issue when Mama Hens have chicks, because the mamas care for their babies and ward off other chickens from bothering the babies.

That just means your egg looks more real. Chickens lay imperfect eggs all the time. Eggs come in a vast variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. The exterior of the egg makes no difference what's inside. Eggs come with additional calcium deposits, soft shells, evidence of infection or disease, and sometimes not at all! Just like human can be constipated, chickens can be egg-bound! 

 Generally, the interior of the egg (the color of the yolk) makes no difference either. The color of the yolk is a product of what the chicken has been eating. If the chicken is eating a lot of alfalfa, pumpkin, and dark greens, their yolks tend to be darker. 

The color of the shell is a whole different story. 

These (assumed) little ladies (we won't actually know for sure for a few weeks. Hopefully none of them crow.) came home with us after a sale at Kahoots in Moorpark on June 17. Although we were told they were 2-3 days old, we actually think they were close to 1.5 weeks old at the time of purchase. All 4 chicks were showing feather growth which wouldn't happen if they had just hatched. Should they have been about 1.5 weeks old on the 17th, they're now just about 1 month old. They'll be ready to move into the coop in about 2-3 weeks.

The color of shell does not influence the nutritional value of the egg you're eating. A white egg has exactly the same nutritional value as a brown egg. A brown egg has the same value as a green egg. The color of the shell is determine by a gland near the chickens vent (I know, OMG, stop!) which deposits the shell around the egg as the chicken is laying it. "Good layers" are chickens that have more active production in these glands (among other things). White leghorns are responsible for most grocery store eggs since they're great, predictable layers. Many breeds of chicken can lay an egg every day. Some chickens (like our Frizzels and Silkie) will only lay a few eggs a week. They will still gladly eat all of our left over dinner when we let them out of their coop in the morning.

No. Definitely not.

But it's so cool.

And we're so happy you're here!